The Thesis
by kitax13
Summary: A story in which Bruce Banner does not destroy Harlem. Bruce/OFC.
1. Chapter 1

_So, this is my first try at a comic book fic. Lets see how you like it. It's about Bruce Banner (the incredible Hulk). It shows Bruce's and Tony Stark's relationship, which is my personal favorite of all the different relationships._

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It had been years since he had last been in New York, for obvious reasons. Walking down the streets, he was thankful that no one ever cared to look in his direction. If even the most insignificant person were to put his face to his name, the masses would scramble. It didn't matter what he could possibly say to persuade that someone or how smart said person was. With one look, he could end up leveling a city block and the nearby park for good measure.

Rain had sprinkled down seconds before but was now only small water stains on his shirt. He looked around at the people hurrying by. Some of them had umbrellas in hand that were still spotted with water. Their clothes were spared from the rain. Some were in his situation. They barely caught the drips before they stopped coming down. Some were practically soaked from head to toe. With his dislike of rain, it was hard not to feel bad for these specific people, but what kind of a person would show concern over a little water? He entered a Walgreens on the corner of the street and made his way over to what they called a technology aisle. He purchased an outdated, burner phone and walked back out. Easily he tampered with the wiring and rerouted his number in Calcutta to this phone. If anyone who actually had his number needed him, they could get in touch. He reattached everything and slid the back onto the phone. It clicked into place and immediately rang out in his hands. Flipping it over in his hands, he read the screen. The word BLOCKED slid repeatedly past his eyes. He hesitated before flipping it open and hitting the green answer button.

"Banner." He said pulling the phone up to his cheek while walking out from under the front awning. He jumped over a large puddle, almost landing on a small old lady. He muttered apologies under his breathe and continued walking.

"Hey, Big Guy," came the voice from the phone. "I see that you're back in New York." Banner laughed; not at all surprised at how quickly his friend was notified of his most recent location change.

"Hey, Tony. Good to hear your voice." He spoke into his phone. "What are you up to?" He asked genuinely interested. Solitude was his best friend, but sometimes he just liked having an intelligent conversation.

"Oh, you know, just calibrating some doohickeys." Came Tony Stark's voice. Maybe intelligent conversation wasn't what he was going to get out of this. He could hear a blow torch in the call's background, not clear enough to make out the model or intensity. This was probably a good thing. He wasn't in town for an extended stay. He didn't have time to become interested in one of Tony's side experiments. "What are you up to tonight?" Stark continued, putting the torch down. A new buzzing sound replaced it over the sound waves. Banner stopped his slow pace and leaned against the closest store window. Inside an old woman haggled over a package of gm. He chuckled a little sarcastically and looked around at the people shuffling past.

"Absolutely nothing." He mused. The rain began to fall again so he moved over to under a nearby awning. And continued leaning. He could hear music coming from the phone over the buzzing; his friend humming along with the melody.

"Great, then you have time to join Pepper and I for dinner tonight," Bruce opened his mouth to refuse but Tony beat him to it. "And I won't be taking no for an answer. Bring a date." And the call was cut shot. He brought the phone down from his ear and stared at the screen that now blinked DISCONNECTED. He flipped it closed and sighed.

"A date. Yeah, ok." He rolled his eyes and shoved the drastically outdated technology into his stretchy pockets. The people passing by were now equally soaked and Bruce wondered if it wouldn't be easier to just wait out the rain. He scrunched his face and leaned back against the wall. He stayed there for a while, the rain not letting up a bit. It wasn't often that he got to be around this many people and even though it should have put him on edge, their mindless chatter was like white noise to him.

"_So we went on a date- He was arrested on drug charges- That whole store is having a sale!- _This conclusion is understandable because- _and I couldn't wait so I dug in- _particles race around and around until- _and she said- _The Whole body goes through a synthesis creating a wormhole effect –"

He found himself tuning into a specific voice near him. It wasn't the voice but the words that seemed to have come right out of his mouth. He turned his head to find himself face to face with his name. Printed in large letters, across the back of a hardback, leather bound copy of his first thesis, being held up by two tiny hands in front of the face of the person reading aloud to herself. Her clothes were dry—and umbrella hung from her hip. Headphones rang out loudly from her ears. These probably prevented her from noticing that her voice was louder than she assumedly wanted. There was a pause in her words as she turned the page and continued reading.

"Objectively speaking this is how the body works. Whether it is a human or a beast-"Banner continued his own words, looking on into the rain.

"The brain does not follow the heart. Nor is it the opposite. These amenities must coexist for the whole body to function." No more words were spoken for a moment; just a jumble of conversations passing by and the low thumping of the girl's music occupied the air. He looked back to her, half expecting her leave any second. It wasn't uncommon or people to finish the chapter of a book before continuing on in their lives. Instead she still leaned on the wall next to him. The book was in her arms and he noticed that her headphones merely dangled over her ears, not in them. She looked up at him in curiosity, which invoked a small smile in him.

"You've read Banner?" he questioned in a lilting voice. He was taken aback for a moment, wondering how she knew his name. The realization hit him shortly after she meant, had he read his own thesis. He chukled lightly, the rain still poured down around them. After weighing the pros and cons of the situation, he decided to play along.

"Yeah." He said, "Yeah a few times, actually."

"Oh, I just adore Banner." She said enthusiastically as if meeting an old friend after years of separation. "Well, his work. I've never actually met the man." She buried the book deeper under her arm and smiled up at him. He smiled back and laughed to himself.

"I'm not too sure you'd want to." He looked back out through the rain. The WALK sign closest to him blinked green a few times before cutting out. It was instantly replaced by the red version of the same sign. The girl hadn't said anything and he assumed again that she had left. He was surprised again to find her giving him the same confused look as before.

"Well why not?" she seemed almost offended. "The man is a genius." He had only been near this woman for a few minutes now and she had provoked him to smile almost continuously.

"What, you haven't heard?" h sad with a smile. "Apparently he's a real monster." Controlling laughter was not something he had practice at. Somehow he managed to not explode in laughter. From his left came a small snicker. He turned to find the girl with her hand over her mouth.

"You mean how he saves the world by changing into a larger, greener version of himself?" She didn't even try controlling her laugher. He didn't mind. This was the most fun he's had since Stark had insisted they all go out for drinks in their world saving attire. They never did get out the door. Pepper made sure of that.

"Doctor Bruce Banner is as much of a monster as Frankenstein was." She continued. He wasn't sure how much he liked being compared to a fictional creature like Frankenstein. "He's big, green, he had a heart of gold." She smiled. "Like Frankenstein."

"A heart of gold?" he was surprised. "How could you know that he has a 'Heart of gold' if you've never even met him?" He inquired. He had never thought of himself in that manner. A monster, yes. Sarcastic? Definitely. But never had he been described by having a heart of gold. She beamed back up at him still leaning against the wall.

"Not focusing on the fact that he periodically saves the world?" She said a little sarcastically before her smile slipped away. She was suddenly serious as she looked down at her feet and held the book out in front of herself. "Truthfully I feel like I can tell you this for some reason. I don't know why." She held out her book for him to take. "I can tell because of this." He took the book and flipped the pages over in his hands. "I've read this thesis over a dozen times and the same part hits me every time. The ending." She looked back to her shoes again. "Throughout this whole book, Doctor Banner explains slowly how the human body works and what makes it work. What showed me the kind of person he is was the ending. The whole last chapter isn't about what makes the body work or even how it does. It's all about using that body the way it was intended to be used." He handed the book back to her and she gripped it in her arms. He realized just how many times the pages had been dog eared. He realized just how frayed the corners were. "The last chapter may be in the same context as the rest of the book. It is literally saying the exact same thing but you have to read the subtext to understand the author's real message. Of course it's all up to interpretation but that's how I see it." Throughout most of her speech, she just stared down at her feet as it she was nervous about what she was saying, but her voice never broke. She never stumbled over her words. He couldn't fathom why she would be saying this to a complete stranger but what she said hit him. When he wrote that his full intention was just to finish the book and get it over with. He never realized that something that he thought wasn't "worth the time to write" could have such an impact on someone that he had never met. A smile spread across his face.

"And your conclusion is that this guy has a heart of gold based off of something that he wrote in less than a day?" He half teased her. It wasn't right for her to have such a warped view of something. He felt almost responsible, but she didn't cave or back down. She glared up at him obviously hurt by his opposition.

"I'm not even sure why I told you all of this. I don't even know your name and I know that I don't have the right to ask this, but why is your opinion more important than mine?" He continued smiling and turned towards her. The game was over but he had fun while it lasted. He held out his hand for her to shake.

"Sorry I should have introduced myself earlier." She placed one of her small hands in his, shook it half-heartedly, and pulled back to her book. "The names Bruce Banner." He said containing himself to a smile. The grip she had on her book tightened and she looked up to him. The glare was gone. "It was nice meeting you, really." He nodded to her and stepped out into the rain. He stood there for a heartbeat before walking across the street through the crowd. He made his way to the edge of the nearest park and sat on an empty bench. He was already soaked so it didn't matter that the bench was wet either. He felt good. Maybe it was all of the praise he had just received or maybe he was happy that he was able to persuade someone away from his. He was just happy; slightly uncomfortable from the rain, but happy.

He sat there for a while, people standing around and walking past him. He didn't even notice someone near him until an old worn copy of his first thesis was dropped on his lap. He looked up to find her standing right in front of him. Her umbrella still hung at her him and she was soaked like everyone else. She sat down next to him and just stared in front of her.

"I- wanted to ask if you'd sign it." She hesitated, "but after I ran after you, the book got soaked." Bruce looked over at her; dark hair plastered to her skin, thin clothes sucked to her arms and legs. He couldn't help it, she made him smile. "I figured we could go get some coffee while it dries and I could ask you a few questions." She buried her hands in her sweatshirt pockets and her chin in her collar. He laughed at the sight. He wanted to refuse but found himself not really caring about what he "should" do. She looked up at him and he tried to hide how happy he was.

"How about dinner instead?" he asked holding the book up in his hands. She smiled back, slightly surprised but nodded in agreement none the less. They both stood and she offered him her umbrella. He declined. The rain wasn't so bad after all. They walked on through the crowd enjoying the feeling of rain drops on their skin.

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_I hope you liked it, and I'm sorry for spelling and grammar mistakes! I'm thinking of writing more so that you see more of Tony's and Bruce's bromance. Also I never really gave the girl a name so... yeah. Review if you'd like me to write more! Even if I only get one review I'll write more so don't be afraid to stand up and say something. _


	2. Chapter 2

_Second chapter! Sorry it took so long but I think it's pretty good. The opening feels a little awkward to me but if you like it tell me. It'll make me feel better :D_

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The rain had stopped while they were inside the building and was beginning to dry up as he called her a cab. She thanked him and shook his hand lightly. After climbing into the cab's backseat, she waved out the back window. The cabby said something incoherent and she turned to reply. Before she could turn back again the car shot forward and she lurched with it. He told himself that it was a simple scientific observation that her hands were small enough to fit in his own. He was so distracted by this observation though, that he didn't notice something important until it dropped into his hands. A busboy ran out to him in a hurry and handed him the old copy of his thesis—her book. Banner raised a hand to stop the cab but the street light was green and the yellow car was long gone. He sighed, exasperated and the busboy returned to taking out a large sack of garbage. Throughout what he wouldn't normally call dinner, he realized two things. The first thing that he realized was that like now, standing on the sidewalk outside a rundown pizza parlor, this girl that he had just eaten with had the most annoying way of making him smile. The second: he had never had a harder time asking someone their name. The girl's question and answer session took up most of dinner and by the time he realized the meal was spent and he had missed any chance he might have had to ask her some questions of his own.

Now, by pulling open the cover of this much worn book, it seemed almost too easy. A small piece of paper tabbed to the inside told him everything he would ever need to know if he had planned on contacting her again, which he had no intentions of. It's not that he didn't want to see her again. It had been a while since he had last eaten with another human being and he enjoyed it more than he remembered. He couldn't do that to her though. The girl was so frustrating and as far as he could tell, his only fan. When he invited her to dinner he was admitting that he couldn't bring himself to crush the reality that she lived in; the reality where he wasn't a monster, just a misunderstood scientist. But just because he couldn't bring himself to break her reality doesn't mean that he could join her there either. He couldn't waste her life with a child's game of house. He couldn't throw away something that wasn't his. Besides, the way she left the book on the table to be thrown out he couldn't imagine her interest in him was as great as it had seemed at first. Banner stopped staring at the name and closed the book. The very little pizza he had just eaten seemed to be doing something to his stomach. Butterflies jumbled around inside him but quickly evacuated as a car horn sounded out from behind him. A hotrod red, two door car pulled up to his side and the mirrored window slid down slowly.

"Hey, Big-guy!" came an all-too-familiar voice from his left. He shook his head and turned with a smile, hesitating slightly before stowing the book in his arm. Stark grinned out the window and gestured for Bruce to get in. Instead he wandered forward, placed his hands on the roof of the car, and leaned into the window.

"Really?" was all he could think of to say. He couldn't hide his surprised delight as his friend leaned over to meet him, face to face. Bruce could tell how proud of himself he was. Tony's face was the mirror image of the cat that had eaten the canary. Bruce was already caught in his trap.

"I know that it's a little early for dinner, seeing as though it's only," he checked his watch, "five thirty-seven, but I figured we could go get a drink." Bruce stifled, what anyone would call, a giggle at the mention of an early dinner.

"You know, you didn't have to pick me up, despite the time." He stood back up and pulled open the car door. Tony pulled back to his own seat as Bruce slid into the leather on the passenger side.

"Well, I couldn't let you ditch me like last time." Tony mused, pulling into gear. Bruce barely had time to click his seatbelt in before the car shot off, catching him off guard. The still open window offered a breeze that blew back his recently graying hair. He shook a chunk of curls out of the middle of his brow and rolled up the window half way. He laughed.

"Last time, I nearly destroyed a corner bakery and you asked me out for drinks right after." He paused to measure Tony's reaction and threw in a joke. "Besides, you know that I'm an angry drunk." He kept a straight face and waited for a response. Tony just nodded his head while still looking forward.

"True." He said completely serious. They both stared straight ahead. Bruce figured he wouldn't get a laugh out of Tony that easily but looking over to his friend he was satisfied to see an amused smile spread across his face. He leaned back into the leather and tried not to think about how close the roof of the car was to his head. The small European car was built for speed not comfort, Bruce understood as he attempted to fit comfortably into the small leather seat. He wasn't fat or ripped but he was bigger boned than a lot of other guys and cars like this were not built for him. Because of this, he had conflicting emotions when Tony pulled into a parking spot outside of his favorite rundown bar. As soon as he could untangle himself from the car and close the door, Tony used his keychain to lock the car. It chirped as they opened the door to the dark, smoke filled bar.

"Two lagers, Benny" Tony said taking his usual seat at the bar. He grabbed a handful of peanuts and dropped them on the bar, as Bruce climbed up next to him.

"Make that one and a coke with grenadine." He spoke up as soon as he was settled on the stool. The bartender gave him a once over and grunted slightly before sliding over Tony's drink. He looked over himself as well and shrugged. His purple button up was getting warn out and he'd soon have to replace it. He quite liked the color purple. The sleeves were frayed slightly in one or two places but he figured he would wear it until it was in shreds.

"I picked you up for a drink," Tony said nonchalantly before taking in some foam from the top of his glass. "Not for a drink." Bruce shook his head and accepted the coke being handed to him.

"I'm trying to stop drinking." He replied giving the same inflection that Tony did on the word. "It's not the best life choice in my situation." Stark just shrugged and took a long drink from his glass. He exhaled a long drink from his glass. He exhaled in approval and they sat there in silence until Tony ordered a second glass.

"I'm not sure that they have enough peanuts to soak up all that beer." Banner commented on his third drink. Tony leaned over next to him and plucked the cherry out of every glass his "drinking buddy" had downed. He bit them off the stem seductively in Bruce's direction but was blatantly ignored.

"What would Pepper say if she knew you'd hit on a guy just to get to his cherries?" Banner wondered aloud with a smile. Tony shrugged.

"Overlooking the fact that I failed, you've decide to join us tonight?" he said in what you could call enthusiasm. He put down his drink and stared at him with what others would call too much intensity.

"Would you have let me ditch?" he replied taking another throat burning gulp of coke.

"Of course not." Tony said quickly but seriously. "But now I have to find you a date in less than two hours." His laziness became him almost too well. Banner scoffed at the suggestion.

"Oh you don't have to, really." He let the sarcasm drip from his words. "Let's just do you, Pepper, and I, ok?" Tony seemed almost offended.

"Well that wouldn't be fair to you," he replied with arguably more sarcasm than his friend. "An old friend of mine is in town. She doesn't speak a lick of English. You'll love her." He waggled his eyebrows in Bruce's direction, who shook his head with a chuckle. He was genuinely in awe at his friend's personality and how easily he shelled out these "friends" of his.

"Really, I don't need a date." He tried to argue but Tony would not back down.

"Really, you do." He said mimicking his friend's tone. He pulled out his phone; a few upgrades ahead of Bruce's out of date rock, and began to scroll through what had to have been thousands of contacts. "I'll list off some names and you tell me which one strikes a," he paused and gave Bruce a look of amusement. "chord." Bruce rolled his eyes in the manliest way he could but didn't interrupt as Tony started to rattle off a list of girl's names. A fourth of the names were in languages other than English and the others didn't seem to "strike a chord" as Tony had suggested. After the first fifty something names though, he waved his hands back and forth, signaling Stark to stop. Tony did stop but was prepared to continue when needed. Bruce just stared down at his hands; his habit of choice when thinking through something.

"Do you have anyone in there by the name of Andrea?" he asked before he could stop himself. Maybe it was because he didn't want to stop. He found himself asking when he had become so selfish. He didn't wait. He didn't care. "You don't?" he continued before Stark could reply. "That's too bad. I'm strangely fond of that name." he said looking up from his hands to his friend who still had his fingers on his phone. Banner smiled over to him with a look of what Tony placed as disappointment, and reached over in front of him. He grabbed Tony's drink and downed what was left of it. "I'll be right back." He said before making his way towards the bathroom. Tony watched as Bruce slowly walked away and then looked back to his now empty glass. He shrugged and grabbed another handful of peanuts, deciding against another drink.

Bruce walked over to the short hallway in the corner of the room and leaned against the wall. Even though he knew that that alcohol wouldn't affect him, he used it as an excuse, a reason as to how he could do this to himself. He declined the use of his cell phone as it was only for emergency use in his eyes; obviously not in Tony's. Without having to look back at the book, he typed in the numbers that had been scrawled under her name. As the phone rang in his ear, he thought through how the conversation would go. He would ask for her. She would say that it was her. He'd ask her to dinner, to return her book of course. Everything would work out great. The phone continued to ring until finally a female voice on the other line answered.

"Hello?" came the voice, slowly and slurred. He checked his watch and shook his head. He had woken someone up at seven at night. "Hello?" came the voice again, this time stronger and confused as to why no one had responded.

"Oh, Hello. I'm calling for Andrea." He said keeping himself from stumbling. There was a pause before she responded.

"Right, Andrea. Just a second." There was a slight clatter as the phone was put onto a table or counter and them a rustling of cloth. There was radio silence for what seemed a full minute before the phone was picked back up. Someone breathed in and then out before answering.

"Hello?" came a different voice from before, Andrea? Her voice seemed lower and more run-together than before.

"Hi, is this Andrea?" Bruce asked after clearing his throat. The response came quickly in comparison to the first voice.

"Ah, yeah it is. Who is this?" came the voice from the other side. He inhaled sharply and shook his head.

"Oh, sorry. This is Bruce," he paused not knowing if he should speak formally. "Bruce Banner." There was silence on the other side and he wondered if he should have continued.

"Right, Doctor Banner." There was silence again. "Can I help you?" she said hesitating on help slightly. Bruce took a second before responding.

"Oh, yeah. I was just calling for…" He blanked. What was he doing? He shouldn't have been doing this.

"for…?" she questioned on the other side.

"Sorry, I was just calling to say that you left your book at the pizzeria." More silence but with a slight shuffling coming from something rubbing against something else.

"Did I?" she asked slowly. "I uh, hadn't noticed." Bruce smiled. He figured this was a wasted effort.

"I figured we could meet up and I could give it to you." He gave himself an out. "Or I could just leave it for you to find somewhere."

"No!" she said quickly in response. He pulled the phone away from his ear for a second. "I mean, I wouldn't want to lose it." She said still just as fast. He smiled to himself again. Maybe she was just forgetful. "Where, um would you like to meet?" He thought for a second. Was putting her in the hands of Tony Stark really the best idea?

"Some," he paused and chose his words carefully "friends and I are having dinner tonight. Join us." He said without a hint of option about the matter. "Be at Stark Tower at eight, okay?" there was another long pause before she mumbled acceptance quickly before hanging up. The dial tone buzzed in his ear before he slowly placed the phone back onto the receiver. Automatically the phone rang again and he hesitated before picking it back up.

"Hello?" he asked not sure what he was supposed to do in these situations.

"Ah, Thanks for calling." Came her voice over the phone again. He smiled.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Bye." She said this time and waited a second.

"Bye." He responded and the dial tone was back. He shook his head and put the phone back onto the receiver. "eight." He told himself, as he shuffled back to his stool and took a seat. "Eight tonight, right?" he asked to his right. Tony nodded, his mouth full of nuts. "We're all set then." He swallowed what was in his mouth and smiled over to Bruce; proud of his friend.

"We're all set." Tony repeated as Bruce leaned into his own hands and weaved his fingers through his hair. "All set."

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I'll write more soon. I hope you liked it. Review please if you have suggestions or if something didn't make sense. :)


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey guys. Sorry for the wait again, but I keep saying that don't I. The best thing I can do is make better chapters and this one isn't even that. It's kind of a filler but I hope you enjoy it none the less. I didn't have anyone edit it this time through so there's going to be some GREAT spelling and grammar mistakes._

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She didn't like it. Every single day of her adult life, she had carried with her—be it out of habit or any other affliction—that leather bound, torn-paged, thesis. When she felt uncomfortable in a situation, she would take out her book and read from the beginning. Sometimes she would make it a game. How far would she get this time? The first few pages, chapter two, or twelve? Sometimes though, she would get through a chapter and have to stop. Maybe she didn't have time to finish the next one and it happened to be her favorite. Maybe she didn't want people to stare at the girl standing in the middle of the sidewalk, engrossed in a dusty old book. Either way, it was hard for her, but sometimes it led to important things. Not running into a street sign was good incentive for her but she never really thought it would lead to anything more.

How long had it been since she was standing there under that awning? The rain had started and stopped, it was hard for her to tell. People passed her peripherals, no one stopping more than a second or two to open up an umbrella or wait for a lighter spell of rain. It was obvious for her when someone stopped near her but didn't move. She finished her page and slowly folded the book closed; wondering if maybe she moved slowly, the person wouldn't notice her noticing them. The man wasn't tall but still taller than her. He had loosely curly, dark hair with a little salt to go with his pepper. This made her guess his age to be older than his eyes gave away. Dark piercing eyes stared down at her hands. Was that a smile on his lips? Never would she have guessed that this lilting smile and pair of eyes belonged to the same man with the most brilliant mind she had ever read. So she followed him. It wasn't amusement at meeting a fan or pride in his smile when he walked away from her. It wasn't really sadness either; it was more loneliness. She felt his loneliness as she watched his form step into the rain and into the crowd crossing her street.

It took a while. She had to overcome the thoughts running through her head. What could she do for the man when she barely knew him? There is no logic in running after him. What would she say? If he asked her why, she couldn't tell him but still, she started into the rain without even reaching for the umbrella that swayed at her hip the whole day. She could still see him as he crossed street after street but she couldn't yell to him. He didn't seem real to her. She was chasing a dream. The irony smacked her in the face as she was caught at a _Do Not Walk _sign when he was not. He slowed his pace and paused for a second as cars whizzed between the two without him even knowing. He turned his head and she could have sworn he was going to look straight back at her. He didn't. He looked to his left at a small bench before the entrance to a park. It was occupied on one side by a young man, struggling to balance his hold on his umbrella while rattling through his bag for something he must have desperately needed. The man moved along just as quickly as the wind picked up and the bench, now completely soaked, seemed all the more comforting. He moved to sit in the rain as people passed around him. The lights changed and traffic changed. Now instead of cars separating the two, people passed around them both. Though she still hesitated, the current of the masses pulled her across the street. She stood feet away staring at the man. His salt and pepper hair stuck to him as his clothes clung to his body. Her feet moved her to stand before him. She took the book infront of her and dropped it in his lap. He looked up from his feet. She took the seat next to him and looked back to where she was standing on the other side of the street. There was nothing to say so she said what she always thought would be her first words to him. She had never felt so conflicted about rain before. It was the only reason she was in such a compromising situation. It was the only reason she went to lunch with a man she hand known for years but also only for seventeen minutes. So when the food ran out, the conversation ended, and he sent her home in a taxi; she left her book on the table. The book that she kept with her twenty-four hours a day. The book that had her name and phone number sewn into three different pages. Maybe he would call her. Maybe she would never see him again. Maybe she was crazy either way.

He called and it wasn't really what she thought it would be like. Her room-mate answered, which wasn't the best thing in the world. The woman had a horrible job that kept her away from home from nine at night to twelve the next day. When she stumbled out her door dropping the phone on the floor in the process her room-mate simply looked down on the phone before turning back to her room and closing the door behind her. There was a silence before the phone found its way to the original target. There had never been a harder choice in her life before then. Between this conversation and her seven year old self's phone conversation with her great aunt over Christmas holiday; which was more awkward. She knew who it was right away by the voice. Still her brain was on auto-pilot. Hearing that she had accidentally forgotten her book at the restaurant was almost painful, she was laughing so hard. She covered the receiver of the phone and laughed into her sleeve. She didn't know what was going to come of leaving her treasure behind her. The biggest outcome she saw was maybe another get-together with the brilliant Bruce Banner. What she got was dinner with him and his friends in Stark tower.

She was never a girly child growing up. She'd rather play soccer than with barbies but when she hung up the phone, she let out the highest pitched noise that her apartment building had ever heard in their lives. Later on, her room-mate would be getting many more calls, but she would hear nothing of it seeing as she would be busy dining with her hero.

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_Alright guys, I know this was probably dissapointing but please(!) that's what reviews are for. Tell me what you thought._


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